the weapons you were selling. Let me save yours. Get the hell out of here.”
“I don’t want to go without you,” said Stuart quietly. He reached out as he spoke, and took the spear gently from her hand.
Kelly smiled. “I don’t give a fuck what you want.” Somehow, the words sounded like an endearment. Her attention swung to Marty. “Look out for Stuart. He needs a lot of looking after.”
“I’ll do my best,” said Marty.
Pris sniffled, wiped her nose with the back of her hand, and said, “I’ll make sure everybody knows what you did. How brave you were.”
“You do that,” said Kelly. “Now go.”
She stayed where she was, tucked into the shadowy nook off the main wall, and watched as the other four turned and walked away. Stuart glanced back at her several times. She forced herself to keep watching until they vanished around a corner and were gone. Then she sighed, all the straightness going out of her spine as she sank, cross-legged, to the floor. Her shoulder ached. Her feet hurt. She was so tired. So, so tired. Maybe she’d just stay there forever, she thought. Maybe that would be for the best.
Kelly Nakata closed her eyes, letting her head list forward, and waited to stop caring about what was going to happen next. She was small. She’d lost a lot of blood.
It didn’t take as long as she might have thought.
LORELEI TUTT’S APARTMENT,
LONDON, ENGLAND, JUNE 1, 2044
The rum is sweet and burning at the same time. It makes it a little easier to discuss the events inside the convention center. Kelly Nakata and the others restored the record of what happened during the siege of Comic-Con; without their attempts to turn the wireless back on, we might never have known as much as we do. Lorelei was right when she said she’d need something stronger for what came next. So did I.
LORELEI: It’s funny. I mean, there’s this whole story that has nothing to do with my family, happening at the same time that my family was fighting to survive. But without it, I’d never have known what happened to them. Was the whole Rising like that, do you think? Just layers and layers of tangle, so that you can never really tell where one thing ends and the next one begins?
She seems more human now, and more lost. I put my cup down and push it carefully away. I need to be sober for the remainder of this interview. No matter how much I want not to be.
MAHIR: I believe so, yes. Everyone has his or her own story to tell. The San Diego Outbreak was unique only in that so many people were confined in such a small space. Their stories were almost forced to overlap.
LORELEI: I spent a lot of time after the Rising going through all the social media feeds from that outbreak, looking for…something. I don’t know. Something that would make it all start making sense. Not linear sense. Just…
MAHIR: You wanted something to make it fair.
LORELEI: Yeah. That’s it, exactly. I wanted something that would make it fair for my parents to have died in there. I wanted something that would make it fair for me to have lived when they didn’t. I know—I know —that they were both glad I made it out of the hall before the doors closed. But that doesn’t make it right. And it doesn’t make it fair.
MAHIR: I don’t think “fair” ever entered into it.
LORELEI: Yeah, I guess not. That was never part of the equation. You know, I met Kelly Nakata’s brother a couple years ago. He came to one of the Equality Now film screenings that I helped put together. He was a really nice guy. He wanted to meet me.
MAHIR: I can understand why.
LORELEI: We’re almost to the end. Do you think we can get through this tonight?
MAHIR: I would like that.
LORELEI: Yeah. So would I. Let’s finish this.
Everything Must Go
The heroes of the Rising took many forms. Some of them fought. Some of them hid. Some of them just left artifacts for us to find after they were gone. But all of them died, and all of them, whether they knew it or not,
“I don’t want to go without you,” said Stuart quietly. He reached out as he spoke, and took the spear gently from her hand.
Kelly smiled. “I don’t give a fuck what you want.” Somehow, the words sounded like an endearment. Her attention swung to Marty. “Look out for Stuart. He needs a lot of looking after.”
“I’ll do my best,” said Marty.
Pris sniffled, wiped her nose with the back of her hand, and said, “I’ll make sure everybody knows what you did. How brave you were.”
“You do that,” said Kelly. “Now go.”
She stayed where she was, tucked into the shadowy nook off the main wall, and watched as the other four turned and walked away. Stuart glanced back at her several times. She forced herself to keep watching until they vanished around a corner and were gone. Then she sighed, all the straightness going out of her spine as she sank, cross-legged, to the floor. Her shoulder ached. Her feet hurt. She was so tired. So, so tired. Maybe she’d just stay there forever, she thought. Maybe that would be for the best.
Kelly Nakata closed her eyes, letting her head list forward, and waited to stop caring about what was going to happen next. She was small. She’d lost a lot of blood.
It didn’t take as long as she might have thought.
LORELEI TUTT’S APARTMENT,
LONDON, ENGLAND, JUNE 1, 2044
The rum is sweet and burning at the same time. It makes it a little easier to discuss the events inside the convention center. Kelly Nakata and the others restored the record of what happened during the siege of Comic-Con; without their attempts to turn the wireless back on, we might never have known as much as we do. Lorelei was right when she said she’d need something stronger for what came next. So did I.
LORELEI: It’s funny. I mean, there’s this whole story that has nothing to do with my family, happening at the same time that my family was fighting to survive. But without it, I’d never have known what happened to them. Was the whole Rising like that, do you think? Just layers and layers of tangle, so that you can never really tell where one thing ends and the next one begins?
She seems more human now, and more lost. I put my cup down and push it carefully away. I need to be sober for the remainder of this interview. No matter how much I want not to be.
MAHIR: I believe so, yes. Everyone has his or her own story to tell. The San Diego Outbreak was unique only in that so many people were confined in such a small space. Their stories were almost forced to overlap.
LORELEI: I spent a lot of time after the Rising going through all the social media feeds from that outbreak, looking for…something. I don’t know. Something that would make it all start making sense. Not linear sense. Just…
MAHIR: You wanted something to make it fair.
LORELEI: Yeah. That’s it, exactly. I wanted something that would make it fair for my parents to have died in there. I wanted something that would make it fair for me to have lived when they didn’t. I know—I know —that they were both glad I made it out of the hall before the doors closed. But that doesn’t make it right. And it doesn’t make it fair.
MAHIR: I don’t think “fair” ever entered into it.
LORELEI: Yeah, I guess not. That was never part of the equation. You know, I met Kelly Nakata’s brother a couple years ago. He came to one of the Equality Now film screenings that I helped put together. He was a really nice guy. He wanted to meet me.
MAHIR: I can understand why.
LORELEI: We’re almost to the end. Do you think we can get through this tonight?
MAHIR: I would like that.
LORELEI: Yeah. So would I. Let’s finish this.
Everything Must Go
The heroes of the Rising took many forms. Some of them fought. Some of them hid. Some of them just left artifacts for us to find after they were gone. But all of them died, and all of them, whether they knew it or not,
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